


Missing

by OutcastsAmongOutcasts



Category: Team Crafted
Genre: M/M, Old School Team Crafted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-03 22:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2890325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OutcastsAmongOutcasts/pseuds/OutcastsAmongOutcasts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mitch goes missing after a fight with Jerome and it’s up to the Team Crafted crew to find him before it’s too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was something written over a year ago before TC broke up so it's old school. I posted this on Tumblr and it got relatively good responses so I thought I should see how it does on here.

"Hey, biggums, what's up?" Mitch asked his tone in good nature.

However, the tone that met him was one of different attitude.

"You know what's up, Mitch," Jerome bit back angrily.

Mitch's false cheery smile disappeared and he looked down at the ground sheepishly, "Look, Jerome, it was an accident."

"An accident?" Jerome growled. "An accident? You accidentally took my diamonds and then lost them? You know I was going to use those to make a new Betty after my last one broke!"

"Biggums, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

But the bacca cut him off, "I don't want to hear it. Do you know how long it took me to collect those diamonds? Months. Now, I have to start all over with iron. I risked my life going into ravines for those things and going through mob infested caves and you just lost them."

Tears started to collect in Mitch's eyes, "Jerome, please, I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to hear it," Jerome yelled, turning away from him. "I'm gonna go find a cave and look for more diamonds because someone lost them all then build myself a new place to live alone."

Jerome stormed off through the trees of the forest and Mitch didn't have the heart to stop him. It was his fault, after all. He didn't mean to lose the diamonds, he was just borrowing them to make a few pick axes for himself so he could look for his own. There were a lot of diamonds, also. He really shouldn't have taken them.

Mitch was too busy lost in his thoughts to hear the rustling of a bush behind him. However, he didn't fail to notice when an arrow whizzed right past his face and stuck in the ground in front of him.

He spun around and looked but couldn't find anyone behind him. Another arrow flew at him but he ducked just in time for it to miss him.

"Hello?" He called into the trees but was met with no reply. Instead another arrow was fired and this time stuck into his shoulder.

Mitch cried out in pain and turned around quickly, running as fast as he could into the forest. He tried to run in the direction that Jerome had taken off in but couldn't find the bacca.

"Jerome? JEROME! HELP!" He cried out into the forest, holding his shoulder as it screamed in pain. It seemed to be poisoned. He tripped on a root and fell. His head collided with the ground and his vision blurred.

"Jerome," he whispered as black spots took over his vision. "I love you and I'm sorry."

And everything went black.

~Few hours later~

Jerome came back through the forest headed towards his and Mitch's home. He felt very guilty about blowing up at Mitch. He didn't mean to be so harsh and so angry but a lot had been on his mind lately and he sort of took this opportunity to release some pent up stress.

What mainly had been on his mind was Mitch. He didn't want to admit it, but he was feeling weird feelings for his friend. Every time Mitch would accidentally brush up against him his heart would do a somersault. He would find himself staring at Mitch when he wasn't looking and admiring his chocolate brown eyes and his soft brown hair. He just wanted to grab his hair and run his hand through it as he pressed his lips against Mitch's.

Jerome shook off these thoughts. Mitch was his best friend. He couldn't be having those kinds of feelings for him. Plus, Mitch probably didn’t feel the same way and he didn’t want to risk their friendship by making it awkward with these feelings. And he wasn’t helping anything by blowing up on him.

He had to find Mitch and make this right.

“Mitch?” The bacca called as he made his way towards their house as it came into sight. “Mitch? You around, biggums?”

There was no response as he approached the good sized cobblestone house that they shared. They had built on it for awhile and had several underground mines but most if not all of them were stripped of their minerals. There was about four stories to their house because they had so much cobblestone that after awhile they just decided to start building onto their house.

Jerome instantly noticed something was wrong. The house wasn’t how it usually was. There also was a weird stench in the air that caused the hairs on his neck to stick up.

He walked to up the front door and found what looked like a bloody handprint on the side of the house. His heart started racing and he threw the door open and gasped. On the floor there was blood smeared like something had been dragged from the inside to the door. Some blood was even splatted on the walls and windows.

“Mitch!” Jerome cried out in alarm. A thousand possible scenarios played through his head. He imagined Mitch’s lifeless and bloodied corpse being dragged or someone attacking him and taking him as he suffocated on his own blood. He panicked.

He ran throughout the house looking and calling for his friend. Everything was unchanged except for the main floor where the blood was. A piece of paper taped to the wall opposite of the door caught his attention and he pulled it off and read it.

“‘You shouldn’t have left him alone,’” Jerome read out loud. Realization dawned on his face and his blood ran cold. “This is my fault.”


	2. Chapter 2

“This is my fault,” Jerome whispered to himself, his eyes frozen wide. “Mitch, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to abandon you. I’m so sorry.”

He bunched up the paper and hid his face in his hands. He felt sorrow and grief build in him but that was swallowed by anger. Anger at himself and anger at whoever did this. He growled and threw the crumpled up paper.

“I’m gonna get you, biggums,” Jerome promised to the air. “Then I’m going to kick the ass of whoever took you. I swear it.”

But he couldn’t do it alone. He had to get the rest of Team Crafted. So it was off to Team Crafted headquarters he went.

~Meanwhile~

Mitch woke up slowly with a blazing headache pounding against his skull. Not only did he have a terrible headache but his shoulder was on fire also. He groaned and tried to rub his shoulder but found that his hands weren’t moving. Something was binding them together behind his back.

“Ah, damn,” he groaned remembering what had happened before he was knocked unconscious.

He slowly tried to open his eyes but instead of being met by blinding light he was met with complete darkness. He could tell that he had been blindfolded.

“Hello?” Mitch called into the darkness. “Anyone there?”

The only response that came was a cold breeze that sent shivers down Mitch’s spine. He tried his best to bring his knees up to his chest to keep warm. He just noticed how cold and wet his location was. There was water on the ground where he was sitting and it had already seeped into his pants. His booty was numb from being in an uncomfortable position too long so he couldn’t really feel all of it except on his legs where the icey cold water bit at him.

Anxiety started rising up in him. How long had he been there? What time or day was it? Where was he? Did anyone notice that he was gone? Was anyone looking for him?

No, he realized. No one was looking for him. No one noticed his absence. Jerome was pissed at him so he probably wouldn’t even care. No one else regularly saw him so no one would even notice his disappearance. He was alone and at the mercy of whoever had taken him.

He leaned back against the wall behind him and let it all fall on him. For the first time in his life, he felt completely helpless and alone. He was terrified.

~Back to Jerome~

Jerome hopped into the minecart that they had built that took them directly to the Team Crafted HQ and set off. The only thought on his mind was getting his benja back. He would either get him back or die trying.

Shortly he was at the Team Crafted HQ which was regularly occupied by Sky who practically lived there. They would meet up there to go play something like Cops N Robbers and other minigames or it was just a hangout for the whole team.

Jerome ran up to the iron door and banged roughly on it shouting for Sky. A voice spoke from behind the door, “What’s the password?”

“Adam, we don’t have time for this!” Jerome shouted. “Open the damn door before I break it down!”

At his serious tone, Sky opened the door and let the raging bacca in.

“We need to call all of Team Crafted for a meeting now,” Jerome told him urgently.

“What’s wrong, Fluffy?” Sky asked with a puzzled look on his face. He looked around, “Where’s Mitch?”

“He’s been kidnapped,” Jerome said. “I’ll explain all of it when the rest get here so I only have to explain once. Now, go call them!”

Adam nodded and ran to go alert them. Jerome just sat on the nearest couch and waited with gnawing anxiety.

~And to Mitch~

Mitch sat in the endless darkness for what seemed like hours. Thoughts rushed through his mind. He thought about Jerome mostly, though. His best friend probably hated him and he just couldn't bear the thought. It hurt to think that he had been so stupid as to make his best friend hate him and now he was gonna die before he could talk to him again. All he wanted to tell him was that he loved him.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sounds of footsteps and a door opening.

"Hello?" He called out hoping for some kind of contact.

"Ah, the Bajan Canadian," a strange voice almost purred. "The best Hunger Games competitor and one of the best fighters known in Minecraftia. I thought you were going to be harder to catch."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Mitch asked.

"I want diamonds," the voice purred, "and there is a bounty placed on your head for 500 diamonds."

Mitch was only mildly shocked to hear about the bounty on his head but his blood ran cold at the thought of it. He was going to be sold to someone else for God knows what reason and then probably will be killed or something.

"What about my friends?" Mitch asked trying his best to sound confident. "They'll notice I'm gone and they'll come looking for me."

The voice laughed, "Oh, I made sure to make it look like you were dead. I went to your house and smeared chicken blood all over the floor and walls. It's enough to make it look like you bled to death."

Mitch's heart fell and he felt sick. Whatever little hope he had of Jerome or Sky or someone coming to find him had just been smashed. They all would think that he was dead and he basically was.

"Why aren't I dead yet?" Mitch inquired.

"The one who put the bounty on your head wants you alive," the voice answered. "But enough of the talking. I've come to give you some potions to keep you from escaping."

Mitch tried to scoot away as the footsteps drew closer but he was roughly grabbed by his arm and had a potion forced down his throat. Soon after that one was taken away another was forced and his whole body almost went numb. He fell back on the floor with a thud as the man let go of his arm.

He fell unconscious shortly after his captor had left.

~Back at the Team Crafted HQ~

Most of Team Crafted had come almost immediately when they heard about Mitch. The only ones who couldn't make it were Seto and Sundee because they were out in a dungeon and couldn't make it but were still notified.

Jerome explained the thing with the diamonds and how he stormed off and left Mitch then came back to find him missing and then showed them the note he had found. The reactions were mixed.

"Are you sure Mitch isn't dead?" The mudkip asked. "I don't know, the way you describe it makes it sound like a bloodbath."

"Well, we all know Mitch is a pretty good fighter," Jason offered. "It might be the other guy's blood for all we know."

"But he's still missing," Jerome pointed out frustratedly. "And we have no idea where he could be or who could've taken him. Mitch didn't have any enemies."

"Not quite," Sky spoke up as he put his phone away. "I just asked Dakota if he'd seen or heard anything about Mitch and he said that his friend told him that there was a rumor going around that someone put a bounty on Mitch's head. 500 diamonds if alive."

The room was sent into stunned silence. No one knew how to react to that.

Jerome broke the silence, "Then he's alive and we must find out who took him. We must get him back."

Jerome couldn't imagine his life without his best friend. He knew he was responsible for leaving Mitch alone like he did and he was to going to go done without a fight. He didn't even want think about what his life would be like without him especially with the guilt of knowing that his last words were words of anger. He had to see those brown eyes sparkling with joy again. He had to.

All of Team Crafted nodded in agreement with Jerome. They were going to get him back.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

~A Few Hours Later With Mitch~

Mitch was awaken suddenly when something connected with his abdomen and all the air was forced out of his lungs. He coughed and sputtered trying to regain the lost air.

“Wakey wakey,” a sing-song voice came from above him. “My 500 diamonds just arrived.”

Before Mitch could respond in any way, he was roughly grabbed by his injured shoulder and forced to his feet. He clenched his teeth and hissed as pain flared up in his shoulder. However, the grip didn’t loosen as he was forced forward and through the unseen doorway and out into the hallway. The blindfold just made everything so much harder for him.

He was led up some stairs barely keeping himself from tripping and falling. Then he was forced to an abrupt stop and pushed to his knees.

' _Is all this force really necessary?_ ' Mitch thought to himself. His shoulder was on fire and he was almost dizzy from being jerked around but not seeing his surroundings through this damn blindfold.  

"Here is Mitchell Hughes," the same voice from before spoke from up above him. "Now, my diamonds."

Another voice hummed seemingly in thought and suddenly Mitch's blindfold was removed. Light rushed into his eyes and he shut them right to avoid going blind.

As soon as his eyes had adjusted to the light, he opened them and examined his surroundings. A blonde haired guy who looked only a few years older than Mitch was standing in front of him seemingly examining him. After another minute, he nodded.

"You'll get your reward," the man said chuckling slightly. He pulled out his diamond sword and swiftly stabbed someone standing just outside of Mitch's eyesight. He pulled back his blood covered blade and a loud thump behind Mitch followed.

The man casually cleaned his blade and then looked down at Mitch and smirked, “I hope you like the taste of your own blood, Mitchell, because you’ll be tasting it a lot.”

Before Mitch could even blink the man hit him over the head with the hilt of his diamond sword and knocked him out cold.

~Back with Team Crafted~

Team Crafted walked through the forest going towards Mitch and Jerome’s house. It had taken for them awhile to get together weapons and armor and find all the books and xp to enchant everything but it was better safe than sorry. They were going to investigate to see if they could find any clues that Jerome may have missed in his panic.

They arrived at the house and everyone went inside except for Jerome. He had already seen it and didn’t want to see it again. Even just thinking about all that blood made his stomach do somersaults. Instead he just went and sat on a log outside the house. He was still in view but not close enough to smell it or see it.

Just thinking about this whole situation… it scared the booty off of him. He felt like he had no control over what was happening and he didn’t know what Mitch was going through. He didn’t even want to think about what could be happening to his Benja right now.

“You alright?” Jerome looked up to see Jason in his spacesuit and diamond enchanted armor.

Jerome shifted a little uncomfortable and shrugged, “Just worried, ya know?”

Jason nodded and sat down next to him, “Yeah, we all are.”

“Yeah,” Jerome nodded.

They sat in silence for a minute or so but Jason broke it.

“You like him, huh?”

Jerome looked at Jason in surprise and blushed slightly, “Well, uh, yeah, he’s my best friend. I can’t not like him.”

“No, I mean, _like_ him like him,” Jason said putting emphasis on the first like.

Jerome sputtered and his blush deepened. He looked away from Jason feeling his gaze (even though he couldn’t see it) scrutinizing him, “Psh, o-of course not. That… that would be weird.”

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” Jason chuckled slightly.

“Jason, Jerome!”

Both of them looked up towards the house to see the others calling them back. They got up and ran towards the house. Jerome tried to ignore the stench that invaded his nose as they got closer.

They met up with Sky, Deadlox, and Husky up by the house. Sky was looking at his phone and was texting quickly while Deadlox and Husky seemed to be discussing something.

"Did you guys find anything?" Jason asked as they approached.

"Yeah, we did," Deadlox replied. "That blood isn't Mitch's. Most, if not all of it, is chicken blood."

Jerome's heart leapt at the news. Mitch wasn't as badly injured as he had originally thought. This was good news.

"We think that the fucker that had taken Mitch had tried to make it look like he was dead to throw us off," Husky continued.

“So, Mitch could still be alive,” Jerome sighed with relief. “Das good.”

“I got something even better,” all eyes turned to Sky as he held up his phone smiling. “Kermit got the location of the guy who put out the bounty.”

“Let’s go after him, then!” Jerome nearly shouted as his excitement levels rose, “Lezzgo get mah biggums!”

The rest of Team Crafted nodded and they set off towards the location they were given. Hopefully they weren’t too late.


	4. Chapter 4

~Back with Mitch~

Mitch woke up after yet again being knocked unconscious against his will. This whole being knocked unconscious thing was getting irritating quickly and he was sure it was going to give him some kind of brain damage or something.

Mitch opened his eyes and was surprised to find that he could actually see and he was thankful for that and the several torches that were lighting the room up nicely. He didn’t like the ignorance of the unending darkness.

He was definitely somewhere new, though. He was on some kind of metal table type of thing with leather strips binding his wrists and ankles to the surface. He was shirtless but the room wasn't an uncomfortable temperature so he didn't really mind it so much.

"Ah, you're awake," Mitch looked up to see the guy who he had seen earlier sitting in one of the corners of the room sharpening some kind of blade. “I was worried I’d have to start without you but, then again, what fun would that be?”

“What do you want with me?” Mitch asked straining against his bonds.

The man chuckled darkly, “What wouldn’t I want with you? One of the top Hunger Game players. Who else better to experiment and play with, huh? You’re strong and a good fighter. I don’t think I could ask for better.”

Mitch stared at the man with wide, confused eyes. What was this bastard planning on doing with him?

The man walked to the other side of the room out of Mitch’s vision and came back holding a blaze rod with a glowing hot end.

“Do you like heat?” He asked casually. Then he took the end of the rod and pressed the glowing end to Mitch’s skin on his left uninjured shoulder.

A scream ripped itself from Mitch’s parched throat. Pain engulfed him, screaming from his chest as his flesh was burned. He had never felt pain like he did at that moment. Tears started leaking from his eyes.

The rod was drawn slowly diagonally downwards. He lifted it up giving Mitch only a moment of relief before putting it back down on Mitch and crossing the line making an X.

“Please,” Mitch begged when he had taken the rod off again, “stop the pain. Please, I’ll do anything, just stop.”

“Sh,” the man shushed him, “don’t talk, you’ll just wear yourself out and I don’t want you unconscious for this next part.”

Mitch’s eyes widened as he saw the man take out a knife. He whimpered and tried to move away but to no avail. The blade slowly entered his skin just above the burned X right in between the two lines. He could feel it ripping through his muscle until it struck a rib.

Mitch's eyes rolled back into his head and he convulsed for a second before his eyes fluttered close and he went limp.

~With Team Crafted~

It took awhile for them to find the location they were given. It was quite far from where they had been and none of them were familiar with the dense forest they were making their way through. That and it was the middle of the night so the monsters were out and kept getting in their way.

"Are we far?" Deadlox asked Sky who was using his phone as a GPS.

Sky shook his head, "No, we shouldn't be too far. There should be a small ravine just up ahead and it's not too far from there.”

And they lapsed back into awkward silence only broken by a random shout of, “Skeleton!” or, “Creeper! Fuck!”. For most of their journey, they had been silent. Jerome seemed too determined on finding what they were looking for to make any sort of talk and the rest didn’t know what to say. It was weird to see the bacca so serious.

Soon, they came up to the ravine and carefully laid blocks across it to pass over it safely. Just ahead of them, they could see light and torches. They were close.

Without warning, Jerome took off towards the light at full speed. Through the forest he could see a wooden house with light flooding out of the windows. Ignoring all of his friends’ shouting at him, he bashed the wooden door down with his axe and it gave in with one hit.

Jerome didn’t see anything in the inside the small house besides a few furnaces, a chest, and a crafting table. In the corner, almost out of sight, he spotted a trap door, ran over to it, and yanked it open. He jumped into the hole barely paying mind to the ladder.

He landed into the middle of a hallway and looked both ways, knowing not which path to take. A scream pierced through the air coming from Jerome’s left. The scream was horrible and pain filled, lasting only about 30 seconds, and made Jerome’s insides do a backflip. It was undoubtedly Mitch’s scream.

“Mitch!” Jerome yelled and ran towards the direction that he heard Mitch. He found a iron door at the end of the hallway. He let out an animalistic roar and started chopping at the iron with his diamond axe. He hit it three times before becoming frustrated and kicking in the door. It fell to the floor, breaking off its hinges like they were made off cheap wood. What he saw made him stop and his blood ran cold.

Mitch was strapped down to a table with thick leather straps. His skin was starch white and clammy. If his breathing wasn't coming out in shallow gasps that Jerome could hear from there, he would assume him to be dead. There also was an 'X' burned into his chest and above it was a knife sticking out with blood dripping from it. However, the owner of the knife was nowhere in sight.

"Mitch!" Jerome cried and ran to his best friend's side. He quickly undid the leather straps, took the knife from his chest, put his jacket over the wound, picked Mitch up, and laid him on the ground.

"Mitch, wake up! Please, biggums, I can't lose you," tears started flooding from Jerome's eyes as he shook the nearly lifeless body of his friend. Jerome squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his forehead against Mitch's, "Please, I love you, Mitch."

"J-Jerome?"

Jerome quickly opened his eyes and watched as Mitch's eyes slowly fluttered open and looked up at him. A weak smile spread across the Bajan's face. "Y-you came."

"Of course I-I came, buddy," Jerome replied smiled widely. "Why wouldn't I c-come for mah biggums?"

"Y-you were m-mad at me," the smile slowly disappeared from Mitch's face and fear shone in his eyes.

"I'ma stupid bacca," Jerome told him. "I should've never gotten mad at you. I'm sorry."

Mitch smiled a little but his eyes started to glaze over, "I-I need to tell you something before-"

"No, stop," Jerome interrupted him harshly, "you're not going to die. Don't even say that."

"J-Jerome," Mitch weakly reached his hand up towards Jerome's face and Jerome grabbed it and held it tightly, "I love you."

"I lo-love you too, M-Mitch," the Bacca replied, his voice breaking.

Mitch smiled and his hand went limp and dropped from Jerome's grip. His eyes started to slide shut.

"No!" Jerome shouted hysterically. "No, you can't! I won't let you!"

Jerome picked Mitch up bridal style and ran out of the room and down the corridor. He had to find Quentin who had brought potions of healing. Luckily he met the mudkip before he even reached the ladder.

“Potion!” Jerome demanded and he bent down putting Mitch on the ground but still supporting him with one arm.

Frantically Quentin searched through his backpack, pulled out a potion of healing, and gave it to Jerome. Jerome then uncorked the potion and spilled the contents of the bottle down Mitch’s throat.

It felt like an eternity as they sat there waiting for something, anything, to happen. Just as Jerome was losing hope, his boyfriend sputtered and started coughing and gasping for air as his breathing resumed. His breaths were weak and shallow but they were breaths and he was alive.

“Oh thank God,” Jerome breathed and hugged Mitch to his chest. “Never do that to me again.”

Not long afterwards, the paramedics and police arrived at the scene. Mitch was taken away in an ambulance and the rest of the crew was questioned by the cops. The question proved the be fruitless, however, as no one knew who the person was that took Mitch or what he wanted from him. Whoever he was, though, Jerome swore his vengeance on him.

~

It was dark. It was dark and cold and wet and never ending. It was also completely, unnervingly silent.

“Hello?” Mitch called into the dark hoping for someone, anyone, to hear him and help him. However there was no answer for a long time.

Then, after what seemed like weeks, there was an answer but the voice that answered sent chills down his spine.

“Welcome back, Mitchell. I’ve been looking forward to playing with you again.”

Suddenly there was a white sharp pain in Mitch’s shoulder. He screamed and flailed trying to hit whatever was stabbing him but found nothing.

“Mitch!”

Mitch continued to struggle against the invisible force, screaming for help.

“Mitch! Wake up!”

Mitch shot up panting and drenched in sweat. There were tears streaming down his face and he was uncontrollably shaking. It felt like he couldn’t breath.

“Calm down, biggums, calm down. Breathe.”

Mitch looked to his right and found Jerome sitting up in bed next to him with a hand on his shoulder. Focussing on Jerome, Mitch worked to slow his breathing until it was even and his shaking stopped.

“You okay?” Jerome asked,  his voice laced with concern.

“Yeah,” Mitch breathed out and nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Same dream?”

Mitch nodded.

Jerome pulled Mitch into a hug and whispered soothing things in his ear. The Bajan rested his head on the Bacca’s shoulder and breathed in his scent reminding himself that he was there and this was real.

It had been a month and a half since Mitch had gone missing and he was still having issues. The man hadn’t been caught and the police had given up trying to find him saying that it was futile. Everywhere Mitch went he was constantly afraid the man would jump out of the shadows and take him. He hardly left the house alone. Jerome and the other members of Team Crafted had been very helpful and supportive through the recovery but Mitch still had a way to go before he could feel completely safe again.

“I love you, biggums,” Mitch mumbled into his boyfriend’s shoulder.

Jerome’s grip seemed to tighten a bit as he replied, “I love you too. I’ll protect you and you'll never be hurt again.”

 


End file.
